Milestone Achievements Of Indian PWDs In 2016
What did the community of persons with disability in India achieve throughout the previous year? This article provides a brief and quick insight.
2016 was a year filled with a plethora of important events and phenomena for India. From initiation of substantial measures by the Government for mobilising the idea of Digital India to the controversial demonetisation scheme, there was something for everybody to be anxious about. But 2016 was also a milestone year for the community of persons with disabilities in India, and a number of positive changes were introduced for their economic & social development. Let’s take a quick look at those achievements of PWDs:
RPWD Bill Passed By Parliament
On 16th of December, 2016, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill was passed by the Parliament. The RPWD Bill cites penalties for any offence committed against a PWD and violation of provisions in new law. Each district will have a special court for dealing with disputes over violation of rights guaranteed to PWDs by the RPWD bill. Reservation for people with benchmark disability in various government institutions has also been increased from 3 percent to 4 percent. Every juvenile aged 6 to 18 years and having benchmark disability must be provided with education for free.
Cash Awards From Government To Rio Paralympic Medal Winners
Under the Awareness Generation & Publicity Scheme, the Indian Ministry gave Rs. 90 lakhs of cash awards to medal winners of Rio Paralympics 2016 from India. Revered PM Shri Narendra Modi praised the performance of the winners and hailed their efforts as outstanding and prodigious.
Launching Of Online Library For PWDs With Visual Disorder
Sugamya Pustakalaya, an online library for individuals with visual disabilities, was launched by Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & IT, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad on the 24th of August, 2016. The library has been integrated with numerous publications on various languages and subjects, and they are accessible in multiple formats. The books are primarily available for individuals with various print disabilities.
National Job Portal Launched For PWDs
A national job portal was launched on the 27th of January, 2016, by the Ministry exclusively for PWDs. Through this portal, persons with disabilities can avail various facilities like education loan, self employment loans, info about jobs and link to different scholarships.
Thus, as is evident from the above mentioned points, there have been major changes in India for the community of persons with disabilities in 2016. According to the Government of India, there will be more changes that aim at improving the condition of PWDs during 2017.
